It’s just been confirmed that grappling and MMA legend Demian Maia will be putting together a team to compete in the AIGA Champions League Brazil Qualifier 2024. He will undoubtedly be one of the biggest names involved in this season of the tournament, although there are still 7 spots left in this qualifying round and 2 more qualifying rounds scheduled after this. It’s not entirely clear yet whether Maia himself is going to be competing or whether he’s simply fielding a team of competitors to represent him, but it’s not outside the realms of possibility that he might choose to step on the mats once again.
While Maia is an incredible grappler and he’s won an ADCC world championship in the past, he has become even more well-known for his impressive UFC career. He already had a perfect 6-0 professional record by the time he made his UFC debut back in 2007, and he continued his rise to the top of the middleweight division. He challenged Anderson Silva for the title in 2010 and although he wasn’t successful, he still beat some of the biggest names in that weight class before dropping down to welterweight. He continued his winning ways there and earned another title-shot at that weight and eventually left the UFC with a solid 28-11 professional record.
Maia always said that he would be returning to BJJ competition when his MMA career came to an end, and so far he’s been making good on that promise. He returned to professional grappling in 2022 and despite not competing in the sport for well over a decade, he still got the submission win over Alex Oliveira at BJJ Stars 8. He didn’t stop there though, as he took another match in the same year and was just as impressive when he was able to get the decision win over Benson Henderson at Polaris 20.
Maia only took a single match in 2023, but his run of great form continued as he registered yet another submission win at CHAANCE Spyder BJJ: Road to Black. His recent performances are a clear indication that he hasn’t lost a step at all, despite approaching 50 years old and having two decades of combat sports wear and tear. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising to see Demian Maia competing at the AIGA Champions League Brazil Qualifier 2024 but even if he doesn’t, he should be able to put together a fantastic team that could have a real chance of winning.
AIGA announced the news that Demian Maia was going to be putting together a team to compete in the AIGA Champions League Brazil Qualifier 2024 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
